Cat Out of the Bag
by arachide
Summary: Seated atop the snow covered roof surrounded by her hibernating bees, Charlotte Charles sulked.


Woo woo, my first fan fic! Be kind to me, constructive criticism welcome!

Disclaimer: No part of the show Pushing Daisies belong to me, just using the idea for

my own entertainment.

Seated atop the snow covered roof surrounded by her hibernating bees, Charlotte Charles sulked. She was thinking over the confrontation she'd had earlier that day with Ned and couldn't help feeling miserable. She couldn't forgive the pie-maker just yet for his hand killing her father, however unintentional it may have been. Wiping a lone tear from her eye, Chuck also knew she could never fully hate him for it. After all, he hadn't known what the consequences of his touch had, and he had lost someone he cared for himself that day; twice.

Still, she needed to be angry at him right now, because even though she loved him and she knew he loved her, she wanted to hurt him. Deep down, in a corner of her heart she hadn't known existed until this moment, she wanted to hurt him as bad as he hurt her the day he took her father away from her forever. These were the things running through her mind when she left the note in the sewer for Oscar Vibenius to meet with her on the complex's roof. These same thoughts were what fueled her as she exposed the Pie-Maker's secret to him, detailing everything that had happened as she remembered it; death to life again. Oscar had seemed to not immediately believe her, but suddenly decided it made a lot of sense, considering the lack of skin to skin touch between the two and Chuck's unusual air of death surrounding her. Muttering things to himself that Chuck couldn't hear, Oscar thanked her for her time before leaving her alone once more on the roof. Some time after he left, Chuck awoke from the shock she had been in, realizing hours had passed by and night had set in. Rubbing her arms, she wished she was wearing a coat and not just the white long sleeved sweater. Then realizing what she had done, the magnitude of it all hit her full force, nearly knocking the air out of her lungs and she stumbled through the door leading her back into the apartment complex, not knowing that in her daze, she had missed the commotion an hour earlier in the streets below her, as the Pie-Maker was carried off against his will by masked mystery men.

An Hour Earlier

Ned stared blankly at the far back wall of the kitchen of the Pie Hole. He was lost in thought, playing the events with Chuck earlier that day over and over in his head, feeling sick at the words that had been said. _"Can't we keep the truth between you and me?" Ned looked at her dark eyes pleading.  
She returned the look, eyes filled with unshed tears, "It's hard to keep the truth between you and me when I can't look at you. I remember you came over the night my dad died, and you wouldn't look at me," "Chuck please..."_

_She sniffed, "You know that no one could tell me how he had died? I thought it was the fickle finger of fate. Then I find out it wasn't the fickle finger of fate, it was your fickle finger. That one right there" Chuck mumbled, sounding miserable. _

Heaving a deep sigh, Ned cursed himself for waiting so long to tell her. Of course it wouldn't have made the blow any softer but at least he wouldn't have been keeping anything from her all this time. The Pie-Maker felt like he couldn't do anything right anymore. He couldn't bring himself to confront Olive about her unrequited feelings for him, causing a constant rift between them, and he couldn't act professionally for Emerson, letting his feelings get in the way of doing his job, which was resulting in more life insurance adjuster's probably getting killed. And of course, Chuck. He'd waited months to tell her his secret even though he'd had multiple chances to confess.

Taking a deep breath, the Pie-Maker pushed his misery to the back of his mind and set to make things right by doing what he knew best. He would bake each of his friends their favorite pie accompanied by a heart felt, verbal apology from himself upon delivery. With this in mind he began his way to the kitchen when suddenly a cloth was shoved over his mouth and his arms wrenched behind his back by an unknown person.

Rightfully surprised and confused, Ned panicked, thrashing his arms, which his attacker wasn't expecting, resulting in a punch to their eye, knocking a pair of horn rimmed glasses off their face and onto the floor. Ned heard them shatter and continued to struggle, catching a glimpse of his attacker. He felt like he was seeing something out of E.T. The man (Ned could only assume he was male due to the person's strength and tall stature) was covered head to toe in a pure white body suit with only a small area to see out of. Breaking away for a quick moment Ned yelled, "Who are you?! Wha-" and was cut off as the chloroform cloth was once again pressed to his face, with more force, quickly rendering him unconscious. Two more men rushed in to help assist the man holding up Ned's limp body, both dressed in matching body suits. Together they carried the pie maker out of the shop, knocking a pie to the floor in their haste, and to the van outside. A women in a business dress suit was holding the back doors to the van open, her face stern, eyes hidden behind black glasses.

"We got him ma'am", one of the masked men stated while hauling the Pie-Maker into the vehicle. The woman gave a tight smile, "Good work men, lets get him to the lab". And with that she climbed into the passenger seat and the men in body suits hopped in the back of the van, doors slamming, and the car sped off into the night.

_Consistent sporadic _


End file.
